April 14, 2016

So, Stay at Home Mom, Where Do You Work?

If you follow
me on social media, you know that I recently had to do my duty as an American citizen
and sit in a room of about 60 other people from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm and wait for
my juror number to never be called. Thankfully. But what a waste of time! They
didn’t even have Wi-Fi so I couldn’t even be on social media all day. So that
forced me to talk to the other 59 people or so around me. And I seemed to have
been asked the same question by everyone: So, where do you work?

As someone who
has spent thousands of dollars earning a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, and
was in the “real” workforce prior to having kids, it does pain me a bit to say
I am a stay at home mom. But as soon as I answer the question, I think to
myself, “but you could never afford me” because let’s face it, the salary of a
stay at home mom is EXPENSIVE!

My job never
ends and I rarely get breaks. When I was breastfeeding, I was awake all hours
of the night pretending to be a cow. Luckily now that Cam doesn’t need to eat
24/7, I have a husband who will get up in the middle of the night when
necessary, but that doesn’t mean I sleep until 10:00 am every day.

I am the maid.
I clean up toys constantly. I do dishes. I vacuum the floors. I washed windows
the other day and I hate doing that. I do laundry (although the hubby does help
with this because I tend to forget about it). But if it weren’t for me, dust
bunnies would literally be running rampid in my home.

I am the chef.
Whose name does Capri yell for when she’s hungry? ::raises hand:: That would be
me, stay at home mom. And who doesn’t just serve her crap (everyday). Me. I
make sure my kids eat healthy, and I actually cook dinner for them. I really do
try to have dinner on the table every night when the hubby gets home too, but
truth is, by 7:00 pm, the kids are miserable and the last thing I want to do is
cook so, sorry hubby. Maybe tomorrow.

I am the
teacher. Want to know who taught Capri her ABC’s, 123’s, colors, shapes, etc.?
Yup, again, it was me, stay at home mom.

The chauffeur.
Want to go to the playground? OK, hop in mommy’s car. Want to go get ice cream?
Mom will drive. I kind of can’t wait until they are old enough to drive, but
that will just be a whole new stress.

I am the nurse. If my kid is sick, I am the one wiping his or her runny nose, I am the one serving up their medicine and I am the one disinfecting EVERYTHING to get the germs away!

You name it, I
probably do it. And again, I am lucky to have my hubby helping out, but he
doesn’t like to feed Cam messy food so poor Cam would never get to eat
spaghetti. And Capri would know EVERY hockey player’s name…not just Kris Letang
(looooove him) and Sidney Crosby’s instead of her ABC’s and 123’s if dad was
home all day.

So why do I
feel bad saying I am a stay at home mom, raising 2 kids, from morning to night?
Because it is not a “job” that people really give me credit for. It was fun
saying that I worked for a huge security company in their marketing and
communications offices before I had kids. I did have a pretty legit job. People
knew about the company and thought what I did was cool. But now, yoga pants
with spit on them and no makeup on, my job isn’t so cool to them anymore.

But you know
what? You couldn’t pay me enough money to give up my job right now. But let’s
talk in 5 to 10 years!

I wouldn't feel bad about saying a "stay at home mom". Not at all! Just like I'm proud to say I'm a pit bull mom. Working from home, especially with children is definitely a difficult and time consuming job. When do you find time for yourself? Don't sweat it, girl. Be proud of what you do!

No stay at home mom should ever feel bad about what they do. You chose to prioritize your kids and watch over them instead of leaving them at daycare while you work. You really should be proud of yourself! And the work you do is always going to be priceless.

It really is hard, but do you scream it from the rooftops that you are a stay at home mom? I also feel bad for those moms who don't get to do this but want to so bad. Maybe that is another reason I don't feel "cool"when I share that this is my job. I don't know...might just be me.

Oh yes, don't get me wrong, I know that the moms who work outside of the house all do these things too, but my point was that when people kept asking me at jury duty where I worked, I didn't feel "cool" saying that I am a stay at home mom. It just didn't scream AWESOME JOB!

I worked out in the traditional workforce for lots of years but never found too many of my jobs very fulfilling. It's hard for me to call what I do now work, even though it pays my bills, because it actually does make me happy, lol. :)

I think being a Stay at home mom is such a a hectic job which requires a lot of skills & patience, but not much appreciated by the society around. Despite being hectic, I am sure it brings joy if you love your role as a SAHM.

Absolutely! The role of stay at home parents is so denigrated and overlooked in our capitalistic society. I wish people would realise where the real value in life is. Well done for speaking out, stand proud mama!

I tell people either I'm a stay at home mom or that I work from home. Neither is a preferred conversation topic for me, as I love what I do, but some days, I just don't want to hear the negativity. Great post :)

I feel like I work harder now than when I was working full time outside the home because it is 24/7 with no days off or holidays. I also feel privileged to be able to stay home with them and watch their childhoods unfold. It is already going by so fast and they are only 5 years old.